


Portraits: Link and Ganondorf

by ZeemonLii



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Digital Art, Jewelry, M/M, Makeup, image
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-24 21:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20021476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZeemonLii/pseuds/ZeemonLii
Summary: Teaser artwork for futures chapters in the series with my Link/Ganondorf fanfic 'Love Thy Enemy.' Link and Ganondorf all made up with nowhere to go. This is my first posted piece of digital art. It is highly stylized, but I hope you like it anyway





	Portraits: Link and Ganondorf

Hi everybody, thanks checking out my first posted piece of digital art.

This art is ultimately a teaser, albeit a highly stylized one, for future chapters of my fanfic ‘Love Thy Enemy.’ [Actually these are for part 2 or 3 of the series, but we're not there yet, so I digress].

  
WARNING: while this artwork does not, the companion fic has explicit mature topics in it, so if you're not wanting to read that kind of stuff, 'Love Thy Enemy' is not for you.

So originally the concept for this artwork was basically ‘let’s slap some makeup and jewelry on these guys and see what happens.’ This idea is clearly visible in the eyelashes and lips, which were drawn first, but as I experimented further, I found my concepts of these characters, which I am developing through my writings [see above], dictated what they would wear.

Ganondorf, in my mind, was going to like more heavy jewelry and intense colors when left to his own devices, because, let’s face it, the gerudo are a flashy people and that is the culture he grew up in. And yes, I know I shaved him. And, yes again, it is a highly stylized look. In all honesty, I deselected his beard once when I was drawing and liked the new line of his face so much I kept it. Plus it’s amazing what a little well placed makeup can do for a face… right?

Alternatively Link, again when left to his own devices but now being influenced by the gerudo culture, would be curious enough to experiment, but, having grown up in the more conservative, ‘mainstream’ hylian culture, would be more inclined towards ‘neutral’ colors and a few pieces of jewelry that he chose because he liked them rather than for their eye-catching value. As funny as it is to say, Link was the harder of these two to draw. I experimented with three or four different hairstyles and sets of jewelry, but they all just made him look like a girl instead of Link dressed up. Finally, I got a clue and created a redesign that was inspired by some of his in-game hairstyles and I must say I’m rather happy with the final product.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that I was lucky enough to be gifted my first drawing tablet this year [2019] and have been playing around with it using the freeware Krita when I have time [and am not in a good headspace to write – my fanfic fans please don’t hate me]. These companion drawings of Link and Ganondorf are something like my fourth-ish pieces of digital artwork and I’m quite happy with how they turned out. I will admit that they are an absurd size because I was still getting use to canvases and layers and stuff, buuut… I guess too big is better than too small, right? I’ve also gotta say I absolutely love the undo button and playing around with color. I’ve spent waaaaay too much time on color palettes. It is so very freeing to be able to experiment with different lines and colors without having to worry about the paper wearing out like it can when doing traditional art.

Ultimately, I’ve been working on this piece on and off for most of the year [I think my first sketch was started in January]. Originally I was going to try to do full shading, but, honestly, it would be too stressful because I really don’t have the time. So I just added the based colors and sketched in some quick shading on the jewelry and was happily surprised how much I liked it. I hope you like it too. Please leave a comment. I'd beg for comments more, but must sleep....

P.S. I'm planning on cropping this image into two separate portraits when I have time and adding them as separate chapters in the future. If you're curious, you can also see the original on DeviantArt...


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